GeoMonday 2016.3 – The Potential of VR

Photogrammetry has been around for over 150 years and its first and foremost usage was measurements and cartography. With the reinvention of structure from motion algorithms and the immense increase in computation power new potential got unlocked. With the automated extraction of 3D data meshes can be created automatically and the images can be mapped on the 3D surface. Digital Maps already transition to full 3D reconstructions. The recent developments not only have an impact on the Geospatial Industry, but also in other fields. Image mapped 3D reconstructions have a high visual fidelity and because of this get used more and more visual effects and very recently videogames. With VR the potential further increases as VR makes you feel like you are there. Feeling fully present in a 3D scene makes reconstructions of the real world incredibly interesting as you essentially “teleport” to a different place. The huge importance of this is emphasized by the fact that Facebooks interest in VR is essentially to create a teleporter.

David Finsterwalder is the Founder and CEO of realities.io. Working in Archeology he gained profound knowledge in 3D Reconstruction through LiDAR Scanning, UAV and Ground Photogrammetry. Driven by the question how to unlock the potential of the gathered data for public relations and museum context he started to look into realtime 3D graphics and eventually VR HMDs for visualization. Amazed by all the possibilities for scene reconstructions and VR HMDs for Archeology and beyond he founded realities.io.